Program Overview

French/Francophone Studies, PhD

The French/Francophone Studies PhD program at Tulane University fosters a comprehensive and integrative approach to French and Francophone Studies. With an international faculty covering a broad range of research and teaching interests, our program allows students to choose from a rich array of courses and encourages them to approach the study of language, literature, and civilization through transhistorical and cross-cultural perspectives.

Overview

This kind of comparative engagement provides students with intellectual depth and interdisciplinary dynamism. In New Orleans and Louisiana, French is a living language, and the strong appeal of our program both nationally and internationally demonstrates that place matters: students who choose Tulane understand the compelling logic of pursuing their passion in a city so thoroughly steeped in its Francophone past.

Program Details

• Program String and Field of Study: LAPHD_GR, FRAS
• Location: Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
• Language of Instruction: French and English
• Duration: Up to five years of PhD study
• Financial Support: Full tuition remission and a stipend for up to five years of PhD study

Course Work

Students must complete a minimum of 54 credit hours, including transfer work and work already presented for the MA degree. For students entering with a BA, it is expected that course work will be completed by the beginning of the third year of study. Students will graduate with a PhD in French and Francophone Studies and a concentration in one of five integrated areas:

• Visual cultures and technologies – Courses in film, urbanism, new media, performance
• European studies – Courses in human rights; political, cultural and institutional histories; Islam in Europe; medical anthropology; and ethno-psychiatry
• Francophone colonial and post-colonial studies – Courses in Atlantic, Caribbean and African area studies; Creole(s) and creolization; Arabic and Islamic studies
• Language and identity – Courses in theory, philosophy, ethics and law, minority languages and identities, world languages and literatures
• Linguistics – Courses to include Survey of French Linguistics (FREN 6070), History of the French Language (FREN 6210), Field Research on French in Louisiana (FREN 6110), Special Problems in French Linguistics (FREN 6910), Translation Theory and Practice (FREN 6160), and courses in the Linguistics program (any course with an LING prefix)

PhD Qualifying Exams

• Written Exams: Three written examinations, each with one or two questions, to be completed within a specified timeframe
• Oral Exam: An oral examination, lasting approximately one hour, to be conducted primarily in French
• Language of Examination: Alternately French and English, with the first exam written in one language and the second exam written in the other

Defense of the Dissertation Prospectus

• Prospectus: A document, approximately 10 to 15 pages in length, including a supporting bibliography, to be defended by December 15 of the semester in which the student sits for the self-designed exam
• Defense: A meeting with the members of the examining committee to discuss the answer(s) to the exam and obtain guidance for writing the prospectus

Reading Knowledge Examinations

• Second Foreign Language: Students must demonstrate reading competence in a second foreign language, pertinent to their field of study, by examination or satisfactory performance in a 6000- or 7000-level course taught in the language
• Language Options: Arabic, Creole, Spanish, Italian, Latin, German, and medieval Occitan, or another language accepted by petition

Defense of the Dissertation

• Oral Defense: An oral defense of the dissertation, held after the dissertation has been approved by all three committee members, to be open to all members of the committee and to all full-time faculty of the Department of French and Italian

Research Areas

The program's areas of strength include:

• Francophone, Afro-Caribbean, and Mediterranean studies
• Medieval studies
• Cultural studies and cultural history
• Critical theory
• Political theory
• Gender studies
• Film theory
• Creole linguistics
• European and African philosophy
• Performance studies and poetics

Conclusion

The French/Francophone Studies PhD program at Tulane University offers a comprehensive and integrative approach to French and Francophone Studies, with a strong focus on interdisciplinary research and a unique location that provides students with a rich cultural and linguistic environment. With a wide range of course offerings, research areas, and financial support, this program is ideal for students who wish to pursue a career in academia or related fields.